183 Egyptian political prisoners sentenced to death: international silence. One Australian reporter given prison sentence: international outrage.
Nobody wants to see the Al Jazeera journalists freed more than I do, but the western hypocrisy over the conduct of the CIA and Israel backed military dictatorship, which toppled Egypt’s only democratically elected government, is absolutely stinking. In the same week the Al Jazeera journalists were jailed, the United States resumed military supplies to its Egyptian puppet regime.
The BBC has been compounding the stinking hypocrisy by constantly broadcasting reports implicitly arguing that the Australian journalist should be released while the Egyptian journalists kept in prison. They have repeatedly broadcast the assertion that there is a difference between Al Jazeera’s English and Arabic output. The latter, the BBC say, was indeed biased to the Muslim Brotherhood (Egypt’s only democratically elected government) whereas the English language service, for which Peter Greste worked, was not.
The BBC thus seeks to square the circle of supporting the release of Peter Greste and at the same time taking the British government line of supporting the Egyptian dictatorship’s elimination of its political opponents.
The truth is that Peter Greste is only superficially the victim of an Egyptian dictator. At root he is the victim of a western foreign policy that believes the interests of Israel outweigh all other interests in the Middle East.
183 got a trial*. These 525 (at least) didn’t –
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/08/2013814224835732803.html
Pre-judicial ..or prejudicial, your choice… interviews in Egypt were reported on yesterday by the Guardian –
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/22/disappeared-egyptians-torture-secret-military-prison
*yeah.
Craig check out these Tony Abbott quotes from this article
https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/24291475/peter-greste-trial-julie-bishop-pushes-for-australian-al-jazeera-journalists-release-ahead-of-trial-verdict/
“… Mr Abbott says he is confident Mr Sisi understands Australia’s position on the Greste case.
“I discussed a number of subjects with the president of Egypt, including the deteriorating security situation in the Middle East,” Mr Abbott said.
“I congratulated him on the work that the new government of Egypt had done to crack down on the Muslim Brotherhood, which is, if you like, the spiritual author and father of some of these even more radical groups.
“But I did make the point that Peter Greste was an Australian journalist and I assured him, as a former journalist myself, that Peter Greste would have been reporting the Muslim Brotherhood, not supporting the Muslim Brotherhood because that’s what Australian journalists do.” …
Despicable!
No matter how bad the ALP is the Liberal party is worse although both are neo-liberal on economic issues.
Soon Australia will be lining up with US, Israel and the Marshall Islans vs rest on some issues.
I agree with you. I find it very strange that it is even a major news story that a foreign news organisation’s journalists have been jailed in what is basically a dictatorship. That’s what dictatorships do, after all, and plenty of journalists have been executed over the years for doing nothing more than reporting the news.
As increasingly often seems to be the case, though, there must be some hidden agenda, and a lot we don’t know about the individuals involved, perhaps. Given the lies and evasions in our pres this morning regarding the phone hacking affair, I wouldn’t trust our media to tell us about it even if they know.
We still live in a world where the value of a human life – viewed by the West – is still partly based on the colour of your skin and where you were born. Democracy is a malleable concept that can be adapted to suit the foreign policy aims of the USA and the EU. The examples of the Ukraine, Egypt and Gaza show that the West supports the democratic process only when the ‘right’ parties are elected. As bad as those regimes were (and in the case of Gaza still are), they were elected with a democratic mandate. No system is perfect, but democracy with all its imperfections in still the best we have. The USA and the EU have shown that in a one dollar one vote world, the desire for universal enfranchisement is only a fig leaf used to cover their strategic economic ambitions.
“The truth is that Peter Greste is only superficially the victim of an Egyptian dictator. At root he is the victim of a western foreign policy that believes the interests of Israel outweigh all other interests in the Middle East.”
The truth is that Peter Greste is only superficially the victim of a western foreign policy that believes the interests of Israel outweigh all other interests in the Middle East. At root he is the victim of the evil empire*.
[ * capitalism, western finance, capital, greed, whatever you want to call the US centred axis of big business and corrupt government. ]
Sally Sara an ABC Journo has remembered Egyptians and this has 260 retweets but Australian MSM and twitershere basically parochial on this issue. Many journos are expressing shock as “hey this could have been me.”
Retweeted by Joseph Kurtz
Sally Sara @sallyjsara · Jun 23
Thoughts are with the thousands of Egyptians who have also been sentenced with sham evidence, but don’t receive media focus. Shameful
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Retweeted by Joseph Kurtz
Iona Craig أيونا @ionacraig · Jun 23
@SJRTooting @johnpilger Shameful. But US/Yemen set example for this kind of sentencing of journalists back in 2010 http://www.frontlineclub.com/journalists_beware_washingtons_wrath/ …
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Max Blumenthal @MaxBlumenthal · Jun 23
But remember, first they came for the Brotherhood… http://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/egypt-must-release-21-women-and-girls-jailed-alexandria-protest … #PT
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Joseph Kurtz @joe_K67 · Jun 23
@GeorgeMonbiot What+condeming 800 people who supported the legitamite govt to death didn’t tell U that? sorry I know U know BUT it’s 1of us!
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Joseph Kurtz @joe_K67 · Jun 23
@con_agius hopefully US will get their clients [Eg army] to let westeners go+not xecute800+ pepll-as it doesnt look good+things back2normal
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GeorgeMonbiot @GeorgeMonbiot Jun 23
The Al-Jazeera journalists’ conviction tells you all you need to know about the new Egyptian government. #AJTrial
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Joseph Kurtz @joe_K67
@GeorgeMonbiot What+condeming 800 people who supported the legitamite govt to death didn’t tell U that? sorry I know U know BUT it’s 1of us!
Vronsky’s comment yesterday that politicians will act when they are threatened seems relevant.
I couldn’t help but laugh at the theatrics of the C4 news team. The image of the entertainer Jon Snow taping over his own mouth will hopefully be reflected back at him again and again. Ohooh not a great example but it’s already happening.
What luck for the rulers that men do not think.–Adolf Hitler
He has quite a long history at the BBC.
Career
In 1995 he was based in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he was a correspondent for the BBC and Reuters, after which for a year he was based in Belgrade, where he was a correspondent for Reuters. He then returned to London, where he worked for BBC News 24. He was then based in Mexico, then Santiago, where was a correspondent for the BBC.[6] He returned to Afghanistan in 2001 to cover the start of the war. After Afghanistan, he worked across the Middle East and Latin America. From 2004 he was based in Mombasa, Kenya, then Johannesburg, South Africa, followed by Nairobi, Kenya, where he has lived since 2009. In 2011, he won a Peabody Award for a documentary on Somalia. He is a correspondent for Al Jazeera in Africa.[7][8]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Greste
Wonder why he joined the Qarari setup?
“Ohooh not a great example but it’s already happening.”
OMG. Images of Snow taping his mout, Blair and Bush, WTC and riots – “iamgine a world where journalism is silenced”. I thought I was linking to some one making a comment about corporate media censorship. But no this is a clip from C4 itself. Ironic.
‘A chilling warning to others’
Al Jazeera’s Peter Greste writes second letter from Egypt’s Tora Prison, where he is being held without charge.
26 Jan 2014
http://blogs.aljazeera.com/blog/middle-east/chilling-warning-others
Here in Oz, reports were based not only on Peter Greste, but also his Arab colleagues.
But if you gave every person the attention they deserve for their unjust circumstances, by the end of the news you wouldn’t even remember who the first one was – there are just too many. As we read and write and weep and wipe away those onion tears, many thousands of people unjustly languish in prisons worldwide, receiving little or no attention whatsoever. Out of sight, out of mind.
The real concern should be that as injustice increases, it overwhelms our attention, emotional sensitivities and ability to respond in any meaningful way.
Craig
Going back to:
“Everyone is entitled to their religious belief, but I have a deep contempt for all those whose faith gives them a sense of superiority over and hostility to those who do not share it.”
That is what the Muslim Brotherhood thought about the majority of the Egyptian electorate who had not voted for them. Mursi and Maliki thought winning an election gave them 5 year’s sectarian tyranny. In both cases it was an experiment that went horribly wrong for the very reason you outline.
Hopefully the Al-Jazeera journalists will all soon be freed as a result of Western pressure, but the problem may be that the Egyptian government regards them as an instrument of Qatari hostility, however wrongly.
Al Jazeera was created with the Emir of Qatar’s money and the staff from the BBC world Service Arabic language TV station.
It was the main conduit for dodgy videos from Bin Laden which inflamed anti-Muslim feeling.
It featured specials such as David Frost interviewing Tony Blair.
Its director general for 5 years resigned when a Wikileak revealed he was taking orders from the CIA.
“They have repeatedly broadcast the assertion that there is a difference between Al Jazeera’s English and Arabic output.”
Sorry Craig, but they are correct in making this differentiation. Al Jazeera Arabic is almost completely different from the English branch, in terms of journalistic standards and editorial team. The English side also draws more on experienced journalists from the west to make it compete with other big international organizations, while the Arabic side is full of Gulfie-ass-kissers, leading to sometimes very sectarian dialogue that makes your head want to explode.
That said, making this point is in no way a means/rational for freeing one and keeping in jail the other two. We don’t arrest Fox News “journalists” in the US simply because they are idiots. Though it stands to reason some people may feel we should (as they do in Egypt).
“there is a difference between Al Jazeera’s English and Arabic output”
I think it’s true to say there is. Which is not unusual, think CNN America versus CNN international.
But most of all, it’s completely besides the point. The Western hypocrisy is not just in the context you raised, but also that for years Al-Jazeera has been targeted, but only now it is apparently causing particular outrage. Al-Jazeera’s journalists have long been regarded by the West as expendable, and it really should not have had to have taken Peter Greste’s fate for our glorious leaders to take a stand.
Craig,
It seems to me that “Western hypocrisy” is actually “Western consistency”.
If one were to start with the first CIA coup in Iran then follow on from similar events in Guatemala – right the way through to the present day – what do we see? Relentless carpet bombing of Afghanistan; destruction of Iraq; same job in Libya.
Why do you expect any different – based on this track record?
CB
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2014/06/stinking-hypocrisy/#comment-462912
The reports in this country include mention of Greste’s two colleagues.
~~~
and btw there are no ‘onion tears’ or even crocodile tears but real tears for the mummies and children who are made to bleed and weep by the cruelties of the USUKIsNATO axis, wherever they operate.
You must cry yourself to sleep every night then, Mary. What a depressing existence you have.
You are a very nasty piece of ******* as you have proved so many times on this blog.
From Mary re Jemand
“You are a very nasty piece of ******* as you have proved so many times on this blog.”
________________________
This piece, coming shortly after another one where Mary said that Jemand was worse than I was, leads me to suspect that I have been dethroned from my position of Villain-in-Chief if this blog.
I am most upset and would respectfully request, nay beg, Mary to reconsider.
************************
La vita è bella, life is good!
Don’t worry Habbabkuk, tomorrow is, after all, another day.
Mary can sure hiss like a biblical serpent but she will brook no criticism, absolutely none, friendly or not.
It’s not just a serious character flaw, but a neurotic inability to accept the reality of fallibility. She displays a churlish urge to spoil things, to look for faults however small in whole peoples as well as individuals, and invent them if they do not exist. And then there is the ongoing antagonism that she wishes to foment between people who need to find their own way of reconciliation. She insinuates herself into discussion of those conflicts as if she is a natural party with all the knowledge of a witness or victim.
And she will dredge up matters of the past, sanitised of all significant explanatory information that undermines her purpose and reprosecute them as if they were fresh crimes. She doesn’t want the wounds to heal. She wants them to bleed, endlessly, to feed her ongoing addiction to find relevance in her altogether useless existence.
Despite claiming to have enjoyed a happy upbringing, she implies in her tone a uniquely superior capacity to sympathise with victims of oppression, hardship and injustice. But then sneers at others who have certainly had more experience at the sharp end of the stick than herself.
We could try to excuse it all as the pique of menopause, but that doesn’t wash. It might explain the obnoxious personality, however. There is something intrinsically bad about this person – a lack of humility, a presumption of superior emotional development, delusions of intellectual competence but something else that is too difficult to articulate. If only she could see it herself and fix it.
It is to do with white lives being worth a lot more than brown ones.
There speaks the proven racist @ 9.36pm who obviously considers himself as some kind of amateur psychologist who is able to perform virtual character assessments by remote control. Suggest he looks at himself in a magnifying mirror long and hard. A most unpleasant piece of work indeed.
You can add slanderous liar to that list describing you, Old Mary. You have never proven or exposed any kind of racist leanings by me. Absolutely none. You don’t have any evidence for it because it doesn’t exist. They are mere lies that dribble through your fingertips and onto the internet to stain it with disinformation. And all to create the illusion of you as a folk heroine of the downtrodden. The best thing you can hope for is an artfully redacted version of my comments with heavy editorialising on your part to push the lie as hard as you can. Goebbels would’ve been proud of ya, old girl!
“It is to do with white lives being worth a lot more than brown ones.”
Succinct and absolutely correct.
Jemand, you supported Canspeccy’s racist pseudo-science, and you harbour a dreadful fear of Muslims breeding; I could link…
Mary, why bother arguing? Just post the news and do your digging.
Habbabkuk, better to look stupid than to stay stupid, eh? Or don’t you understand what I’m hinting at?
“you supported Canspeccy’s racist pseudo-science, and you harbour a dreadful fear of Muslims breeding; I could link… ”
Please do Clark, I don’t support any pseudo-science (as you well know) let alone one that concerns itself with the mythical concept and now cult of “race”. Link away! There, you’ve read it for the umpteempth time that I reject any and all concepts of “race” that are necessary for “racism” and its equally toxic arch-rival, hysterical anti-racism. Two ugly sides to a bad penny.
With regard to Muslims, do we need to point out, yet again, that Muslims are not a race? I thought you were smarter than that, Clark. You claim that I fear Muslims breeding. That is both a lie and an absurd proposition. Islam is an idea, not a genetic attribute. If I harboured concerns that neo-Nazism was on the rise in Europe, would you be so quick to suggest that I was racist with a claim that I “fear neo-Nazis breeding”?
Do some thinking, Clark, I know you’re up to it. And try to learn to distinguish the real enemies from the others whom you imagine to be so.
Ironically, some of you clearly harbour more affinity for people toting Kalashnikovs than the armchair commentators with whom you disagree on technical points of argument. How do you square that with your peacenik pretences?
Go find those links, Clark. I’m interested in seeing where the misunderstanding arose.
_ _ _
Re “It is to do with white lives being worth a lot more than brown ones.”
Well, this is the result of inductive logic gone mad. Taking specific, but unrelated instances and constructing a generalised rule. Isn’t that what xenophiles accuse critics of Islam when we observe the *myriad* instances of violence and find that the common attribute, indeed the stated intention in many cases, is related to a medieval belief system?
It really is time for you people to put your thinking caps on, or go out and buy new ones.
This is who Jemand currently links to. Pro Israel. Anti Arab.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHC8KC5cLs8
Why I support Israel.
One Pat Condell. Make up your own minds. An unpleasant mixture.
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWOkEnBl5TO4SCLfSlosjgg
He used to link to a weird website entitle ‘Why won’t God heal amputees?’ ! and we all know what his thoughts are on immigrants. One even burgled his mother’s house. Unheard of that white Australians could do such a thing.
Finally, below is a little singing group with an ode to Tony Abbott who has just called for more security measures to be put into place to combat terrrrrism.
‘Earlier on Tuesday, Prime Minister Tony Abbott flagged tougher measures to prevent home-grown jihadists returning to Australia.
“The government that stopped the boats will stop the jihadists,” Mr Abbott told a coalition joint party room meeting in Canberra on Tuesday.’
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/2014/06/24/12/32/abbott-signals-anti-terror-crackdown
Tony (Abbott’s) Favourite Fibs. You don’t have to be Australian to enjoy it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFWXGvFLq70